Frank Magnotta "Grand Optimist"
Derek Eller Gallery
This event has ended.
Creating imaginary architecture comprised of disparate elements from contemporary culture and personal experience, Frank Magnotta makes monumental graphite drawings. For this exhibition, Magnotta has mined several sources for his structures. For example, "Century 21" and "Petfood Angels" are inspired by the newspaper USA Today from which Magnotta gathered an array of logos, graphics, and headlines and then reconstituted them into new structural frameworks. As such, these works provide a layered portrait of our information-saturated society which, like an amusement park fun house, is at once, seductively thrilling and horrific to behold. In another, more autobiographical piece entitled "Grand Optimist," Magnotta begins with a logo which was ubiquitous in his hometown of Grand Rapids, MI. This emblem, an abstract take on the city's iconic public sculpture by Alexander Calder, becomes the foundation for Magnotta's architecture. Filling out the composition with other recognizable signs and symbols from his childhood, Magnotta presents the quintessential semiotic structure, infused with both personal meaning and that which is universally resonant.
Media
Schedule
from May 21, 2009 to June 27, 2009
Opening Reception on 2009-05-21 from 18:00 to 20:00